Hi friends! This video is the first in a proposed series where we look at the engineering of famous warships in depth. Which other ships would you like to see covered like this? This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of Janusz Skulski and his book ‘The Battleship Yamato.’ These sources also proved invaluable and make for great further reading; warshipprojects.com/2018/04/24/the-yamato-class-genesis/ www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_18-45_t94.php www.diepresse.com/4702366/die-selbstmordfahrt-des-letzten-super-schlachtschiffs www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Follow-the-Pointer www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1907/january/size-battleships-function-their-speed
During the war, my Grandfather was on board the USS Alabama. One day he was telling me about the Battle of Samar and how he missed it because they were heading for the carriers up North. He mentioned at the time he was mad that he missed a chance to take out the Yamato and was salty for a couple years after. At the time, the Navy thought she was just a really big ship with 16" guns. He said after the war he learned she had 18.1" guns. Suddenly, realizing the Alabama was armored against 16" guns, he wasn't so salty about missing the battle anymore. Also, I like how the model used is early war on one half, and late war on the other.
Alabama had radar and vastly superior fire control. Punching through Yamato's belt armor would have been tough but with the amount of fire Alabama could throw up she would turned Yamato into a flaming death trap by riddling her superstructure.
@@Wha2les at medium and close range, yes, but at long range (20+km) Yamatos shells had superior penetration. They also had a bursting charge that was almost twice as large (41 lbs/18.5kg vs 75lbs/35kg) so they would do more damage after a penetration. They also had more fuse delay, which means the shell takes more time to explode after impact, that can be good or bad depending on where you hit, your chances to penetrate deep into the gun turrets, magazines or machinery spaces and thus do more meaningful damage are increased, as are your chances of a sucessful underwater hit, but there is also a higher chance of your shell not doing any significant damage as it passes through very thin sections of the ship, like the bow or upper parts of the superstructure.
@@stanleyrogouski True. But I think Drach was right with his opinion on the battle had it gone that way. Alabama and Washington would have gone after Nagato and the other smaller ships while the Iowas would have gone after Yamato. Would have been a hell of a fight.
That was probably the best description of the Yamato and her construction that I have myself encountered on YT. Other videos I have watched provided a general description and then went into great detail about her career and final battle. Yours was the opposite and helped fill many a gap in the questions about what made Yamato so impressive and imposing. Great video. Thanks from a fellow Aussie.
@@daleslover2771*the funniest thing is that the more advanced American/British radar during the wartime was actually invented by Japanese British person or a Japanese living British ... Had he stayed in Japan that will be having terrifying effect on the Allied forces*
@@robertgittings8662The Japanese really did dominate when it came to technology huh? Not just in the world wars, but even today. Japan is arguably still the most technologically advanced country on Earth. And they still make it cheap, but high quality… Just imagine being cryogenically frozen in Japan since the Second World War and seeing what tech looks like today? That would be CRAZY
Couldn’t agree more! This video goes above and beyond in explaining Yamato’s incredible construction and design. The focus on what made her so unique filled in so many gaps for me too. Thanks for such a well-researched and insightful look into this legendary battleship!
@edensarnelli9373 Right before fire season, then after fire season. we start cutting wood to make it through the winter here in Southern Oregon.( 45) 16" to 18 " rounds equal a truck load when split. Approx 210 pieces of Doug Fir, 5 cords for my neighbor, who is 80 years old. 3 to 5 cords for myself, Every year, it's the same. Great photos of these laden down trucks, heading towards the sheds. 18 loads equal 4 cords, 3 loads of oak make it even 5 cords. 20 year old Toyo 8 ply tires, Inflated to 60 Psi It's a slow go on, old logging roads, chuck holes, warsh out creeks, 55 mph on the freeway, 4x4 flashers on. 20 + thumbs up, people going by 5 windows that are down Some guy or girl yelling out Do you want to sell it.? What the wood? No... the truck! Haaaaaaaaaa, Sure, $25,000 cash at the bank...( a piece.) (2) 1977 Toyota Hylux trucks 20 R sweet hearts. As the old saying, there are only 3 gureentee things in life. Taxes, Death, and Toyota trucks. 😂
I’ve watched a documentary on Yamato. She was built with the highest level of secrecy they could manage. A screen was erected around the ship yard so you couldn’t see it on the slipway. It was launched at night without fanfare or ceremony, all locals told to remain in their houses and all businesses closed for that night. Apparently, when the hull was launched it created a wave that swamped the town causing a lot of damage.
That was Musashi, not Yamato. Musashi was build on the slipway at the Mitsubishi Shipyard in Nagasaki. They ordered a mock airraid to keep her launch a secret, and she was fitted out at Sasebo. Yamato however was build in a drydock in Kure, Hiroshima prefecture. The drydock was specifically enlarged to be able to construct the ship, as well as being fully covered to remain secrecy. I don't think that her launch would have been as much of a covert operation as Musashi's however, since Yamato's drydock is within a large naval base, while the Musashi's slipway was not. It's still actually in use today, appropiately called the Yamato Drydock.
I'm 71 and I have built more than 450 warship models, including the Yamato. Most models were of the 1/700 scale because there are enough kits of all ships to create the fleets of WW2. About 15 years ago I began building large scale models & I chose the 1/200 scale Yamato as one. I chose this model because of how large the kit was "Almost 5 feet long", because of the incredible detailed parts about 2,000 and I was able to motorize the model. I did a lot of research of the Yamato before building the model. Sadly there are no video recordings and very few photos. I have enjoyed your channel now for a year or more and this is one of my favorite of your videos on ships. Thank you for uploading it. Shalom
Nice 1/200 I built the 1/350 scale Yamato by Tamiya. It as well was motorized & I took it to a few lakes for fun. Of all the WW2 battleships my favorite was the Yamato followed closely by the Missouri, then the Bismark
I’m working on a 1/200 Bismarck, the plan is to to a 1/200 Yamato next and finally a 1/200 Iowa(probably New Jersey tho I have a plank of wood from her deck restoration project)
I am a Japanese and ex-car design engineer. so I am interested in engineering including ships. it is very well edited and visualized story of explaining Yamato. I am very impressed in deed. Thank you very much.
From our perspective, the decision to destroy so much of the record of her design and construction (why no mention of her sister, Musashi?) Is not only really unfortunate but hard to understand. I suppose it was too difficult for those responsible to imagine the post war perspective. But that perspective emerges remarkably quickly after wars, well within a generation, usually first among professional military officers, and historians, of course..
My wife is Japanese. Her grandfather was a bodyguard for Hiro Hito, her uncle was transferred to the Yamamoto after suvining two hip sinkings, and would have missed the war completely had he been born three months later. Her nephew is Moto Shibata, winner of several medals for extreme skate boarding in the X-Games,
Incredible video. Thank you my friend. The fact that the Japanese (mighty as they were) could be so defeated, yet post-war emerge even stronger and allied with the western world, and be respected by all for both their contributions to human engineering and culture is so good that I'm sure nobody would have believed it at the time of war. As an Australian, whose country was bombed and target for invasion by Japan (something only stopped by the lives of so many Australians in hellish conditions), yet these days we hold much respect and admiration for them. Let's hope one day all countries can come together as allies, stronger than ever, just like the Japanese, British, Americans, Germans, and Australians did post-World War II.
Lucky man, i too wanted to visit kure specifically for yamato but only had 3 days in tokyo but luckily managed to visit mikasa at yokosuka. Definitely a unique piece of museum ship to visit
This must be the most detailed and technical video of the Yamato I've seen. Unlike other documentaries that are made more for entertainment rather than the educational content. This video actually explains the details , unlike other videos where they just list the details and stats.
Watch Drachinfel for great detailed documentaries particularly about navy ships from early history up to WWII. He does great detailed guides. Ocean liner Designs is also great obviously, and neat to see him going into military vessels.
@@solusanimefan Drach is a bit too technical in most cases, viewers need a baseline knowledge to understand what he's explaining most of the times. I'd actually suggest Oceanliner, then Drach for individual ship. For naval battles BazBattles/ House of History before going to Drach or Montemayor. Epic History for the Napoleonic naval warfare, he's currently collaborating with Drach on Nelson's most famous battles: Cape St. Vincent, the Niles, Trafalgar. Edit: spelling
Funny, I'm no engineer, but i never felt drach's videos were unnaccessible. He's pretty thorough when explaining things, and usually starts from the premise that the viewer is a layman. @@daszveroboy
Having studied the Yamato , her design and much more I really appreciate how detailed and in depth of a documentary you have managed to produce whilst being unbiased in anyway or form. Most youtubers when talking about the Yamato love to compare her to other ships of the time and call her out for just being a cheapscape waste of resource but I’m glad this was not true for yours The Yamato is a very beautiful ship, and perhaps its reason for sinking so quickly or being flooded had to do with a fault line in her torpedo bulge the engineers found to have during one of her times in harbour. Japanese were unable to fix such a fault leading to such catastrophic flooding. Another interesting thing to note was Yamato Straddled light escort carriers at the battle off Samar, with her shell design damaging USS White plains at 17 miles via an underwater explosion. Whilst she may not use radar as part of her fire control, it must be noted radars were good at finding range quickly, however lacked the ability to give reliable headings to the target. So Radars were good, but not too good in WWII as if a cheat code to win any engagement.
@@fredenord2411 she was in a port, a place very protected by German AA and what not. She never really ever got hit that much before being eventually sunk
@@arnoldcobarrubias6593 Don't really love Italian ships, the subject was looks. If I had to pick one battleship that I like as a warship, I think I would go with the USS Washington.
Another way of saying it: The Japanese were taking a most beautiful gun to a gun-fight, but the other side had a hundred guns -- and most of them were flying guns.
Naw i think it's more like designing a ship that adheres to your decisive battle doctrine so you design it to take on multiple ships but your opponent not only has those multiple ships but an incredible air arm that obsolete it anyway.
I have viewed many videos of Yamato design, construction and sinking but this video is by far the most informative within a reasonable condensed format. Look forward to many more videos.
As a kid, the Yamato I first learned of, was from the TV show Star Blazers. Something about it, hooked me for life. I looked into it often, and loved learning about it.
At one time, the Yamato was a great battleship, it fought nobly, and to the end. While rust and decay have taken away her once sleek beauty, the legend remains bright. A legend of bravery, and sacrifice. Now, just as the ancient ship appears again, the legend will come alive again, a legend, and a ship, that will save Earth.
I would love for the channel to do a video on the NYK Line, which was Japan's ocean liner and mail carrying line through the interwar years. Their ships set records for fastest Pacific crossings between Japan and California. Pretty cool stuff and right up Mr. Brady's alley.
Having served in the US Navy for 21 years and a student of history for over 55 years on one hand it is great to hear a cogent history and explanation on Yamato's construction. But as a sailor I always pray for the souls of her sailor... They served their ship and duty with honor. GOD BLESS their souls. EBW M.Ed. USN Ret
I recently watched a video by Drachinifiel where he said that by the Second London Naval Treaty, the US absolutely refused to go down in displacement limits in battleships as the British were proposing, because they wanted their battleships to be able to stand up against what they thought Japan was building (≈40-45 thousand ton battleships). They did not, in fact, expect a 70 thousand tons battleship with 46 centimeter cannons. Edit: spelling mistakes
Well they were indeed correct for doing so, and even if they knew it would exist there was no reason to change the core bulk of your battleships for a chance engagement. It's only one ship (well 2 along it's sister Musashi) and was more a liability to the Japanese than anything, and only finally got used out of desperation. Tho the plan was quality over quantity, the class was more a sense of national pride in just keeping them in existence than any real strategic game changer in the long run. Tho a lot of that is in hindsight
@@muddyhotdog4103 A lot of myths there: - the Yamatos were NOT symbols of national pride due to all the secrecy surrounding them, and propaganda had absolutely nothing to do with their construction. That’s a postwar fabrication. - The idea Japan should have built more smaller battleships ignores that a) building ANY battleship was a bad idea at that point, and b) Japan didn’t have enough slipways to build that many battleships (or carriers) in the first place. The Yamatos were the RESULT, not the cause, of Japan being limited in how many capital ships they could build; they were effectively forced to go for quality because the infrastructure for quantity simply didn’t exist. - ALL battleships that were built around that time were strategic liabilities for their navies, because the issue was that aircraft carriers extended battle ranges to the point battleships were left unable to even fire a shot at the enemy, leaving them to serve as pointlessly gigantic destroyers (and thus a waste of resources). Other contemporary battleships from other nations (including the Allies) also failed to have much of an impact, if at all. The problem is that the Yamatos tend to get singled out for existing by various narratives that either pretend nobody else wasted money on battleships (when everyone did) or that other nations actually managed to use their new battleships effectively (which they couldn’t, and no, simply having a battleship burning fuel sailing around doesn’t count as effective usage when it’s not doing anything other ships can’t do better).
@@bkjeong4302 British battleships had a huge impact on the war, being a crucial part of destroying the German and Italian fleets, convoy escort, and other roles like shore bombardment. The resources could probably have seen better use on a force centered around carriers from the start, but naval aircraft were nowhere near as capable as they would be by the end of the war.
@@puff7145 First of all a lot of what British battleships ended up doing in WWII was with older vessels that weren’t immediately obsolete upon launch, and as you said the resources used on the KGVs and Vanguard could have been better used on more carriers. As it was, land-based airpower played a much bigger role in suppressing German and Italian heavy units.
When I first clicked on an OLD video, I wasn't sure how much content a channel could get out of this premise. A year later, I'll watch anything he puts out. Absolutely would love a stowaway video.
Hey Mike, I’m Kiel from the Philippines. I am a big fan of your videos. Your videos have been a constant source of enjoyment, particularly during my late-night meals. They have become an essential part of my evening routine before I fall asleep.
Hi from Germany. Fitting to the theme of the channel your name means "keel" in german and is also the name of a big city here in Germany, which is famous for their maritime history and its port.
“Searching for a distant star Heading off to Iscandar Leaving all we love behind Who knows what dangers we’ll find….” Oh wait that’s for part 2 Yamato’s space modifications ;) This was a very interesting video. This ship was a beast
The Battleship Yamato was one of the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed, representing the pinnacle of battleship engineering during World War II. Built by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato embodied the strategic thinking of its time-dominating naval power with sheer size, armor, and firepower. This ship, along with its sister ship Musashi, was a symbol of Japanese naval strength, yet its ultimate fate reflected the changing nature of naval warfare as aircraft carriers became more dominant.
There was a hotel here in Surabaya that was originally Hotel Oranje, then Hotel Yamato, when the Dutch and Japs colonialized us. But now it’s Hotel Majapahit, which was the name of what’s once the greatest kingdom in Indonesian history
My friends late father who was in the Royal Navy, wrote a letter to the designer of Yamato, he actually got a reply. My friend still has the latter. I believe his father was a Naval designer of some sorts, not sure exactly.
Fun fact ,Yamatos triple 6” secondary armament located either side of the superstructure were removed and fitted from the Mogami class cruisers ,only to be replaced with multiple AA mountings by 1942.
The Yamato is my most favorite battleship, and this has to be not one of but the best videos I’ve ever seen that covers her history and design. Great job!
Amazing video! The explanation of Yamato's engineering is detailed and captivating. You really brought the design and history of this legendary battleship to life. Great work!
I just wanna say, I've been with your channel since the early days, for years I enjoyed every video you dropped, but always craved one thing in the back of my mind... "I wish my friend Mike Brady would cover the IJN Yamato". I can't believe it, but the day has arrived, and I'm THRILLED!
Woooww... Built with the best technology and resources of its time, this ship had incredible firepower. Her main gun, 460 mm caliber, was the largest ever installed on a warship, capable of destroying enemy ships from great distances. Apart from that, the Yamato also has a thick layer of armor, making it almost impenetrable to conventional attacks. From this perspective, Yamato reflects Japan's desire to maintain maritime supremacy in the Pacific region 🥇🇮🇩❤😘🥰
...it almost impenetrable to conventional attacks. Not really. She was sunk by the very aircraft she was prepared for with her 150 extra AA guns. And she was shooting back, this was no turkey shoot. Maybe it was like a old cowboys on TV gunfight. She started shooting, and what she did was commit suicide.
Oh, as japanese this is the most exciting video from Oceanliner Design!🔥 Thank you so much! 8:16 You even drew in a Mitori Zu（見取り図）format, with your Katakana channel name! That is just so cool!!
@@mikethompson2650 the old school one. He is into Anime and I'm not. I told him the only one I liked was from when I was a kid. Turns out all 70 something episodes are on RUclips.
Its in fact quite an irony that meanwhile Japanese hugely invested in building the biggest battleships in the world. It was also Japanese who (just a few months after puting Yamato in service) actually in Pearl Harbor and mainly by sinking of British Force Z (Repulse and PoW) were first to prove battleships vulnerable to air attacks and in fact obsolete.
@@davidhugheszerobubblemodel1865 But that was still stationed fleet at anchor in harbor (same as US fleet at PH). But force Z (Repulse and PoW) were destroyed by planes at open sea... which is fairly different situation- giving ships far more chances, but those battleships were still easily massacred with minimal loss of attacking airplanes.
@@kokunoskos6836Those ships had minimal anti aircraft guns and were sitting ducks. Anti aircraft guns on RN ships were increased dramatically after that incident.
Yeah but tbf, they also built many aircrafts carriers and before the US had the most, largest, most remarkable and most experienced carriers with the most skilled pilot at hand. Not to mention how impressive the shokaku class aircraft carriers were that achieved victory whenever they fought the yorktown class aircraft carriers for example battle of Santa Cruz, and both shokaku and zuikaku while damaged survived both coral Sea and Santa Cruz while sinking one of the enemy carrier in both battles.
@@fryertuck6496 Nope... PoW and Repulse had average anti aircraft armament for 1941 standards and they were not sitting ducks as they were free to maneuver at open sea... and still had no chance against enemy airplanes with no own air cover...
Many years ago I had the great fortune to listen to a lecture by Ted Crosby who flew the aircraft from which all the sinking of the Yamato photographs were taken. Most of the developed negatives were stolen for souvenirs so that is why only a few photos remain. The 25mm antiaircraft guns on the Yamato were based on an earlier French design and they could not be depressed low enough to defend against very low flying aircraft and the rate of fire was slowed down if elevated vertically. Thus attacking torpedo aircraft and low flying fighters strafed these guns and their crew first. The torpedo attacks concentrated on just one side of the Yamato to induce a list rather than have her settle evenly. He said to me that he knew we were certain to win the war when they got the updated Hellcat fighters. He was also royally pissed off that he got assigned to take pictures rather than attack the Yamato. She was a beautifully designed ship for a bygone era that was never used to her full potential... fortunately for us. Excellent video which concentrates on the nuances of naval architecture rather than just history.
I remember Jeremy Clarkson describing this vessel as "hyperbolic". At nearly 73,000 tons displacement full load, that was a strikingly apposite choice of adjective. It's also notable (and *many* thanks to Mike Brady for providing the details) that the Japanese designers were meticulous and thorough when designing this colossus. Unfortunately, technology - particularly aircraft carrier and strike aircraft technology - overtook the Yamato. A supreme irony, given that the first attempt by the IJN at a "decisive strike" was a carrier assault itself. A Japanese film about the Yamato's last hours exists, and it's compelling, if at times gut wrenching, to watch. Those sailors may have been enemy combatants 80 years ago, but they were still human beings, and watching them die in that manner takes a strong stomach. The film also gives a good indication of how much bombing and torpedo strikes it took to sink her.
otokotachi no yamato is a brilliant movie even though its centered around the crew the final battle scene is worth an entire military movies worth of engagement
Frankly Yamato gets singled out for being obsolete on launch when that’s a problem that applies to EVERY battleship built at that time, including a number of highly praised Allied designs like the Iowas (which ended up as gigantic, needlessly expensive destroyers without the depth charges in practice). The IJN was stupid for building Yamato, but everyone else was being equally stupid in that respect and building their own wasteful and pointless new battleships.
@@bkjeong4302 Yes, most of them were not worth the money, and the only ones that got their money's worth were the ones in the 1910's and 1920's, although if the US were to fight mainly in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, it would have been a whole different story, because carriers were unusable in the Atlantic if you did not have Swordfish.
@bkjeong4302 it's also crazy the us kept the Iowas in service for half a decade. Curious as to the total amount spent to run them that long was as it has to be truly astronomical.
@@oxolotleman7226 To be fair, the Iowas spent the majority of that time in mothballs due to lack of actual value, but that in itself should tell you something (and even the smaller amount of time they were active for was arguably much too long, given that the Iowas were intended to chase down and intercept enemy capital ships, a role that became nonviable before they even hit water).
What an outstanding presentation Mike. This was a real treat, I always knew about it, but now I can appreciate it. May its like never be needed again 🇺🇲 🤝🇯🇵
Yamamoto was a crazy feat of a ship the fact that those guns were still firing while tipping over is a testament to that build quality as well as the crew even tho they were enemies,you gotta respect that
@@shakybill3 宇宙戦艦ヤマト(uchuu senkan yamato or Space Battleship Yamato), a popular 70s anime where they turn the raised battleship into a spaceship and fight aliens.
Happy to watch this video: I always thought that the Yamato was sort of a stupid idea, and now I know they made it as good as possible with the tech at the time, actually quite amazed about how advances it was!
Thank you for the beautiful video. Excellent, well presented information. May the souls of the men who died aboard the Yamato find their path to the Yasukuni shrine, and their sacrifice not be forgotten.
I am not a big fan of her overall look. However there is photo taken from the bow look back along the main deck, and the graceful curve that deck has rates as one of the most beautiful images I have seen on any ship ever.
@@glenchapman3899I wouldnt describe it así beautiful, but as menacing AND totally badass. If Darth Vader had to choose a terrestrial ship to direct operations from, it would be Yamato.
@@themoonhurtsdaddy at least Arizona got a museum built to honour her in the end though, to allow future generations to admire her prettiness and act as a symbol of prestige after the us were done thoroughly spanking the japs for sinking her
Your unbroken record of excellence continues unabated! This focus on design and engineering, as opposed to operational record, is a good one. Somewhat unique I think. Go for it! When the video discussed upgraded systems as the war progressed, I remember seeing a stunning overhead view of the Yamato's anti-aircraft protection over the years, with a series of diagrams showing the increased numbers of 25mm AA guns added as the war progressed. The increases in that weapon was stunning. With elevated superstructure space filled up, the IJN was forced to locate the 25mm AA guns fore and aft on the main deck where ever space could be found. (The irony, of course, was that by 1944, the range of the 25mm AA gun was totally inadequate since US aircraft would have already released their bomb and torpedo ordnance before the aircraft was within effective range of the 25mm AA systems.)
The USN was having some of the same problem with their 20 mm Oerlikons. One of the ironies is that Yamato may have done as much damage to her own AA gun crews with the blasts of her 18 in guns firing AA shells. The blast waves killed and knocked out the light and medium AA guns and gun crews with out actually doing anything to the incoming aircraft.
I would argue that IJN Yamato wasn't obsolete the moment she hit the water. Until the advent of aircraft mounted radar to help with attacking at night. The aircraft carrier couldn't really handle a nighttime operation. Whereas a battleship with night optics, good training, and, for bonus points, radar assisted gun fire control. A battleship can and will destroy targets. Admiral Lee in Guadalcanal and Admiral Cunningham off Cape Matapan both demonstrate this.
Lee was an Olympic class marksman despite terrible vision. When he aimed a gun of any size, he didn’t miss. Fitting that the penultimate battleship vs battleship fight in history was his to win.
@paulpotter1041 The Battle of Taranto is a vast difference to encountering a fleet underway in the dead of night. The harbor had been a target of interest since the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. Years of planning plus the fact harbors and ships at anchor don't move the best. Contrast this with the Battle of Cape Matapan, which did have HMS Formidable. Once the sun went down, no more aircraft were used in attacking the Italians. There are even reports that HMS Formidable cleared her deck guns for use in the battle line with the battleships when a radar contact was spotted.
Agreed but sort of on technicality. While Japan was pursuing two doctrines; conventional warships, and advancing carrier warfare, aircraft weren't seen as the fundamental future of naval combat even when Yamato was undergoing sea trials. The battle of Taranto proved that a carrier was an invaluable asset to a surface fleet, and that torpedo bombers could cripple battleships that were in port. The sinking of Bismarck once again proved that a carrier was an invaluable asset to a surface fleet, but all the aircraft managed to do was disable the rudder. Pearl Harbour was the very first time that a predominantly carrier based fleet engaged in a major battle, and while it was wildly successful, most of its targets were in port. However, this becomes the turning point of where the US starts to focus more on carriers. *IJN Yamato would be commissioned only 9 days later* -worth nothing that the Val dive bombers and A6M Zero that made Pearl Harbour and IJN naval aviation so successful were only entering service right as the Yamato began its sea trials. So the moment Yamato hit the water, carrier superiority was still a very uncertain ideology. Pearl harbour wasn't the global turning point of battleships being obsolete. Iowa classes were still being laid down, the Montana class wasn't cancelled until 1943, HMS Vanguard was 2 months into construction and was completed in 1946, the Lion class of the late 1930's was delayed but still underwent redesign in 1942 and 1944. While the Japanese would scrap the A-150 battleship project in favour of more carriers and cruisers in 1941, signalling that they understood that carriers were the way to go, Shinano didn't start conversion to an aircraft carrier until after the disastrous battle of Midway in 1942. I would argue that the moment Yamato was *commissioned* (moments after Pearl Harbour) the IJN at least understood that naval aviation was the future of naval warfare, but they weren't ready to give up battleships just yet. But from the western perspective, they were still building battleships to sail alongside fleet carriers. Because aircraft can sink ships in port just fine, but what happens when a battleship is at sea with an escort? You're gonna need a battleship to sink a battleship at sea. It wasn't until late 1944 and mid 1945 that the superiority of aircraft was REALLY cemented after Musashi and Yamato were sunk exclusively by aircraft. Late war advances in engines, aerodynamics, and torpedoes only made this even more obvious as the path forward.
The Battleship New Jersey RUclips channel has a great video about the armored funnels of the Iowa class battleships, the video is actually shot inside of one.
One other thing I find amazing is that they actually built TWO of these amazing monster ships, the other one being Musashi, which was also lost during an earlier stage of the war.
There was a 4th that did not get past early construction, some of its armor was used on the light carrier Shinyo.......... not to be confused with the 3rd hull finished as the super-carrier Shinano.
@@jeffslote9671 this is spoken with severe hindsight and hubris from a modern perspective yamato by launch, and by 1945, was the most advanced and well designed battleship afloat there was only a handful of issues in regards to her rivetted armor design since her armor was THAT thick it couldnt be welded with technology at the time, people who claim yamato was old technology are mostly apathetic US navy fanboys who keep flaunting the mk 38 fire control was a magic aimbot which could simply annihilate yamato at long range in any surface fleet engagement, yamato wouldve utterly annhilated an opponent ship so long as she wasnt severely outnumbered, but as japan gives up on kantai kessen by 1942-1943, there wasnt much operations that would justify the investment of fuel and resources in moving the ship seriously, the amount of people talking with hindsight on "OH THEY SHOULDVE BUILT MORE SHOKAKU CLASS CARRIERS!!!!!!!!!!!" or "OH YAMATO WAS BIG AND OLD TECH!!!!!!!!!!!!" is astounding considering yamato had one of the best gunnery records in her brief engagement with surface ships off samar using the type 98 shagekiban fire control computer, which was a manual process involving 7 people. the guns had significantly lower dispersion than an iowa class as well which is the main point of reference that people use as a counter example to yamato www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/gvt_reports/USNAVY/USNTMJ%20Reports/USNTMJ-200F-0023-0085%20Report%20O-31.pdf the issues with yamato didnt lay with design, it was something out of the control of the imperial japanese navy general staff, how is anyone supposed to predict and justify that aircraft technology wouldve advanced at a pace unrivalled in the history of the second world war, the few glimpses we had were radical flyboys in the US during the interwar period demonstrating the effectiveness of carrier combat, but that was against a slow / stationary ship with no anti aircraft return fire and no supporting fleet to aid in its defense yamato is just used as a pedestal to represent the obsolecence of battleships from people with huge hubris and hindsight, which is unfair for such an engineering marvel
No, not really. Slow to maneuver, expensive, a money pit, relatively underpowered guns for their size, only comparable to, if not weaker than the U.S 16-50, a much slower muzzle velocity. Nearly a generation behind technologically despite being relatively new, and used antiquated Optical Aiming, as Japan had no access to Radar at the time, making the ship relatively inaccurate, and nearly impossible to accurately use at night. All Yamato was ever good at was harassing smaller ships, that had no chance of killing it, if it had ever come face to face with a proper American Battleship, she would have been killed a lot sooner, and far more violently.
@@kulot-ki1tu THANK YOU! The number of times I get IOWA fans spouting out arrogant statements about US navel superiority based only on "we still have battleships what happened to yours?" argument. The Iowa's simply can't compare to the Yamato in any meaningful measure. Faster yes but what's the point of sacrificing armour over the ability to run towards your death faster. Iowa's had a similar armour scheme and layout to that of the KGV class who were treaty battleships and therefore built with cheap in mind. Yamato is just on a whole new level of warship. AND just so GORGEOUS. I mean the Japanese can make good warships but at the same time they look like a piece of art. This gorgeous warship is no exception. Compare it to the Iowa and it wins hands down just by appearance alone. Yamato has curved shapes, angles and odd shapes all over the place and non standard features most other battleships don't have. Compared to the flat, square and regular shape of the Iowa that looks like it was designed by a 4 year old with no creative style whatsoever. Iowas are only around because they were introduced too late in the war to do anything meaningful and with the USA having profited from the war unlike most of Europe they had the funds to keep their warships around after the war where as everyone else was flat broke and had to scrap their warships even those with exceptional records that no Iowa could achieve. SEE HMS WARSPITE FOR DETAILS. Iowa's are only mistakenly seen as the best battleships because there is nothing to compare them against.
Trivia: Before directing _Godzilla Minus One_ Takashi Yamazaki made two films featuring the Yamato. The first being the live action adaptation of _Space Battleship Yamato._ The second film is a fictionalized account of the construction of the Yamato - _The Great War of Archimedes._
HOLY SHIT hol up now that you said it im starting to see similarities between live action space yamato and minus one namely the love drama of the main protagonist.
0:49 Don’t listen to anyone saying you’re pronouncing the name wrong. In English it becomes Yama-to but in Japanese it’s pronounced Ya-ma-to. So you said it correctly.
Easily the best Yamato video yet. Mike, you've outdone yourself. That said, it's sobering to think what would have happened had the Japanese taken the resources that went into building Yamato and Musashi and built 3 or 4 Shokaku class carriers instead. They probably would have won Coral Sea and taken Midway. They then could have based subs at Midway and harassed shipping between the US west coast and Hawaii. They could have taken the Solomons without interference and isolated Australia. The allies would have been on the defensive for a long time.
They would have had to relax their standards for pilot training (brutal is an understatement.) At most it would have delayed the end of the war another year, two tops. The US had the Essex and Independence swarm coming in mid to late 43, along with pilots to crew the planes needed to fill their hangers. And the Fletcher and Cruiser swarms, along with fleet submarines and working torpedoes, and CVE's to help with shore bombardment with the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers and to hunt any subs lurking near beach heads. Taking the Solomons would have added 2-4 weeks transit time to Australia.
@@PeteOtton Point taken. Still, it can't be denied that the Pacific war would've been a lot longer and bloodier had the Japanese built carriers instead of the Yamatos. So you could plausibly argue that the Japanese actually helped the allied cause by building them, as they contributed very little to the Japanese war effort.
I was stationed aboard a Destroyer in the mid-late 80’s out of Mayport. During Ocean Safari 85, the waves were so intense that the carriers had water flying up and over their decks and my ship was likened to a submarine. Ripped off everything that was topside/attached to the skin of the ship. Was awesome fun for a 22 year old kid from Idaho.
At least PoW got to fight another battleship in her short career, heck PoW is the reason Bismarck was running to France instead of hunting convoys, by opening up the fuel system, among other damage
And for that matter, Bismarck. It may have been KGV that actually sunk her, but it was Ark Royal's Swordfishes that delivered the crippling blow that sealed her fate. There's a reason why everybody suddenly stopped making battleships at about this time.
Ya guys need to chill out. Both tragedy, SOLIDIFIED the rise of AirPower!!. PoW/Repulse wears the distinction of the FIRST MILITARY SHIPs in OPERATION sunk purely with Air Power. Yamato, well we can put is as the LAST of these Great Military Ships.. sunk purely by Air Power, and the end these huge behemoth era.
It's also always struck me as ironic that the Japanese at least temporarily leveled the battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet using air power alone, but that's also hindsight. It was the only way they could manage it since they couldn't sail a fleet into the harbor. I think Midway proved that air power trumped gunpower, and Repulse and Prince of Wales proved that ships without air cover were doomed if airplanes appeared.
That's because the Musashi did even less during the war than the Yamato, they were absolute wastes of both technology and resources. Really cool and amazing ships, but in the end absolutely pointless outside of being both morale boosts and massive morale killers with their destruction, to the Japanese themselves
What an amazing and respectful video. I could write a whole paragraph but can see that others have done so already. The final thoughts at the end of the video were almost poetic.
Its ironic in a way that the Yamato Musashi, and Shinano helped the U.S. during WW2 by ultimately being a complete waste of if resources. Over 200000 total tons that couldve gone to so many other smaller ships or various types of supplies during the war. As i recall the only ship the Yamato ever sunk was the Escort Carrier Gambier Bay. Aside from that these 3 ships never achieved what they were supposed to do. Thank you Mike Brady for show casing the engineering behind these ships. Sure one can read about it but its much more fun hearing about it and visually being shown it. Top notch as always.
This is actually a common myth. While the famous German battleships were indeed a waste of resources, the Yamato-class battleships were extremely dangerous. The Imperial Japanese Navy was weirdly conservative with their battleships while being very aggressive with their carriers. In 1942 and much of 1943, the overstretched Allied navies had no answer for Japanese battleships. US torpedo bombers (the only practical way to sink a battleship) were somewhat ineffective in 1942, as were US submarines. Allied fast battleships also had problems, neither being fast enough to catch the Kongo's nor powerful enough to take on Yamato. By the time Yamato and Musashi were finally committed to battle, it was two years too late. While they could've dominated the Pacific in 1942, they were impossibly outnumbered and outmatched in 1944.
What a stunning program. You translated Yamato's concept and design, brilliant as it was, into a description of it's weaknesses and how it as the ultimate battleship exemplified the failure of the battleship class.
@@RossoVerdeNero People must treat their Civics differently where you live. Most people I know keep their Civic as full as explosive as possible, just in case they are needed.
Would be curious to make a modern version with nuclear power, cruise missiles, railgun turrets, CWIS, jamming, & drone launchers. Call it Super Yamato.
Railguns are actually pretty ineffective as the sheer power of them destroys the barrels after just a few shots so putting them on the 'super yamato' would not be cost efficient
There actually was a plan for a ship that was dubbed the "Super Yamato", design A-150. This ships would have been largely the same as Yamato, except with the latest equipment available. Most importantly though, instead of Yamato's 9 460mm guns in 3 triple-turrets, she would have carried 6 510mm guns in 3 dubble-turrets.
Hi friends! This video is the first in a proposed series where we look at the engineering of famous warships in depth. Which other ships would you like to see covered like this? This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of Janusz Skulski and his book ‘The Battleship Yamato.’ These sources also proved invaluable and make for great further reading;
warshipprojects.com/2018/04/24/the-yamato-class-genesis/
www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_18-45_t94.php
www.diepresse.com/4702366/die-selbstmordfahrt-des-letzten-super-schlachtschiffs
www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Follow-the-Pointer
www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1907/january/size-battleships-function-their-speed
Obviously,… The Bismarck :)
Definitely the Iowas, Nelsons, and KGVs need to feature!
Iowa class
"Big E" USS Enterprise
Admiral Graf Spee and her sister ships
Admiral Hipper
Escort Carriers
Ark Royal
Scharnhorst/geisenau
During the war, my Grandfather was on board the USS Alabama. One day he was telling me about the Battle of Samar and how he missed it because they were heading for the carriers up North. He mentioned at the time he was mad that he missed a chance to take out the Yamato and was salty for a couple years after. At the time, the Navy thought she was just a really big ship with 16" guns. He said after the war he learned she had 18.1" guns. Suddenly, realizing the Alabama was armored against 16" guns, he wasn't so salty about missing the battle anymore.
Also, I like how the model used is early war on one half, and late war on the other.
Those 18.1 behaved similarly to Iowa's super heavy shells in penetration though
Alabama had radar and vastly superior fire control. Punching through Yamato's belt armor would have been tough but with the amount of fire Alabama could throw up she would turned Yamato into a flaming death trap by riddling her superstructure.
@@Wha2les at medium and close range, yes, but at long range (20+km) Yamatos shells had superior penetration. They also had a bursting charge that was almost twice as large (41 lbs/18.5kg vs 75lbs/35kg) so they would do more damage after a penetration.
They also had more fuse delay, which means the shell takes more time to explode after impact, that can be good or bad depending on where you hit, your chances to penetrate deep into the gun turrets, magazines or machinery spaces and thus do more meaningful damage are increased, as are your chances of a sucessful underwater hit, but there is also a higher chance of your shell not doing any significant damage as it passes through very thin sections of the ship, like the bow or upper parts of the superstructure.
@@Wha2les While true, I don't think that would be very comforting if they were falling around the ship you were currently on.
@@stanleyrogouski True. But I think Drach was right with his opinion on the battle had it gone that way. Alabama and Washington would have gone after Nagato and the other smaller ships while the Iowas would have gone after Yamato.
Would have been a hell of a fight.
That was probably the best description of the Yamato and her construction that I have myself encountered on YT. Other videos I have watched provided a general description and then went into great detail about her career and final battle. Yours was the opposite and helped fill many a gap in the questions about what made Yamato so impressive and imposing. Great video. Thanks from a fellow Aussie.
👍 👍 👍 incredible shake down.
@@daleslover2771*the funniest thing is that the more advanced American/British radar during the wartime was actually invented by Japanese British person or a Japanese living British ... Had he stayed in Japan that will be having terrifying effect on the Allied forces*
@@robertgittings8662The Japanese really did dominate when it came to technology huh? Not just in the world wars, but even today. Japan is arguably still the most technologically advanced country on Earth. And they still make it cheap, but high quality…
Just imagine being cryogenically frozen in Japan since the Second World War and seeing what tech looks like today? That would be CRAZY
Couldn’t agree more! This video goes above and beyond in explaining Yamato’s incredible construction and design. The focus on what made her so unique filled in so many gaps for me too. Thanks for such a well-researched and insightful look into this legendary battleship!
@edensarnelli9373 Right before fire season, then after fire season.
we start cutting wood to make it through the winter here in Southern Oregon.( 45) 16" to 18 " rounds equal a truck load when split.
Approx 210 pieces of Doug Fir,
5 cords for my neighbor, who is 80 years old.
3 to 5 cords for myself,
Every year, it's the same.
Great photos of these laden down trucks, heading towards the sheds.
18 loads equal 4 cords,
3 loads of oak make it even 5 cords.
20 year old Toyo 8 ply tires,
Inflated to 60 Psi
It's a slow go on, old logging roads, chuck holes, warsh out creeks, 55 mph on the freeway,
4x4 flashers on.
20 + thumbs up, people going by
5 windows that are down
Some guy or girl yelling out
Do you want to sell it.?
What the wood?
No... the truck!
Haaaaaaaaaa,
Sure, $25,000 cash at the bank...( a piece.)
(2) 1977 Toyota Hylux trucks 20 R sweet hearts.
As the old saying, there are only 3 gureentee things in life. Taxes, Death, and Toyota trucks. 😂
I’ve watched a documentary on Yamato. She was built with the highest level of secrecy they could manage. A screen was erected around the ship yard so you couldn’t see it on the slipway. It was launched at night without fanfare or ceremony, all locals told to remain in their houses and all businesses closed for that night. Apparently, when the hull was launched it created a wave that swamped the town causing a lot of damage.
Dumbasses should have launched at low tide.
I don’t remember where I heard about the flooding of the town post launch, but I heard about that too!
That was Musashi, not Yamato. Musashi was build on the slipway at the Mitsubishi Shipyard in Nagasaki. They ordered a mock airraid to keep her launch a secret, and she was fitted out at Sasebo.
Yamato however was build in a drydock in Kure, Hiroshima prefecture. The drydock was specifically enlarged to be able to construct the ship, as well as being fully covered to remain secrecy. I don't think that her launch would have been as much of a covert operation as Musashi's however, since Yamato's drydock is within a large naval base, while the Musashi's slipway was not. It's still actually in use today, appropiately called the Yamato Drydock.
I'm 71 and I have built more than 450 warship models, including the Yamato. Most models were of the 1/700 scale because there are enough kits of all ships to create the fleets of WW2. About 15 years ago I began building large scale models & I chose the 1/200 scale Yamato as one. I chose this model because of how large the kit was "Almost 5 feet long", because of the incredible detailed parts about 2,000 and I was able to motorize the model. I did a lot of research of the Yamato before building the model. Sadly there are no video recordings and very few photos. I have enjoyed your channel now for a year or more and this is one of my favorite of your videos on ships. Thank you for uploading it. Shalom
My respects
Legend
The Japanese Navy along with a lot of the military high command burned most of their records. An insane amount of knowledge about this ship was lost.
Nice 1/200 I built the 1/350 scale Yamato by Tamiya. It as well was motorized & I took it to a few lakes for fun.
Of all the WW2 battleships my favorite was the Yamato followed closely by the Missouri, then the Bismark
I’m working on a 1/200 Bismarck, the plan is to to a 1/200 Yamato next and finally a 1/200 Iowa(probably New Jersey tho I have a plank of wood from her deck restoration project)
I am a Japanese and ex-car design engineer. so I am interested in engineering including ships. it is very well edited and visualized story of explaining Yamato. I am very impressed in deed. Thank you very much.
From our perspective, the decision to destroy so much of the record of her design and construction (why no mention of her sister, Musashi?) Is not only really unfortunate but hard to understand. I suppose it was too difficult for those responsible to imagine the post war perspective. But that perspective emerges remarkably quickly after wars, well within a generation, usually first among professional military officers, and historians, of course..
how did you get started in that gig?
My wife is Japanese. Her grandfather was a bodyguard for Hiro Hito, her uncle was transferred to the Yamamoto after suvining two hip sinkings, and would have missed the war completely had he been born three months later. Her nephew is Moto Shibata, winner of several medals for extreme skate boarding in the X-Games,
GOAT, could you please give the proper pronunciation for the ship? Is it YAMA-toe or Ya-MATO. Thanks
@@stevezelev7008Neither? All syllables have the same stress.
Incredible video. Thank you my friend. The fact that the Japanese (mighty as they were) could be so defeated, yet post-war emerge even stronger and allied with the western world, and be respected by all for both their contributions to human engineering and culture is so good that I'm sure nobody would have believed it at the time of war. As an Australian, whose country was bombed and target for invasion by Japan (something only stopped by the lives of so many Australians in hellish conditions), yet these days we hold much respect and admiration for them. Let's hope one day all countries can come together as allies, stronger than ever, just like the Japanese, British, Americans, Germans, and Australians did post-World War II.
When I was stationed in Japan, I took a trip to Kure City and went to the Yamato Museum. The model of the ship is unbelievable!
Lucky man, i too wanted to visit kure specifically for yamato but only had 3 days in tokyo but luckily managed to visit mikasa at yokosuka. Definitely a unique piece of museum ship to visit
By the time you visit the museum. did Leiji Matsumoto exhibitions section being built there? still there or relocated elsewhere to different museum?
Brilliant.
you are an ambassador of a country that nuked mostly civilian cities. twice. don't be mystified if the locals don't like you
@@JK-dv3qe The locals should think about what they did: the "ambassador" should be the one who dislikes them, certainly not the other way around.
This must be the most detailed and technical video of the Yamato I've seen. Unlike other documentaries that are made more for entertainment rather than the educational content. This video actually explains the details , unlike other videos where they just list the details and stats.
Watch Drachinfel for great detailed documentaries particularly about navy ships from early history up to WWII. He does great detailed guides.
Ocean liner Designs is also great obviously, and neat to see him going into military vessels.
yes and they get informations wrong but atleast hir you see that he did reserch
@@solusanimefan Drach is a bit too technical in most cases, viewers need a baseline knowledge to understand what he's explaining most of the times. I'd actually suggest Oceanliner, then Drach for individual ship. For naval battles BazBattles/ House of History before going to Drach or Montemayor. Epic History for the Napoleonic naval warfare, he's currently collaborating with Drach on Nelson's most famous battles: Cape St. Vincent, the Niles, Trafalgar.
Edit: spelling
Agree. Well said. Hats off to the researchers/writers.
Funny, I'm no engineer, but i never felt drach's videos were unnaccessible. He's pretty thorough when explaining things, and usually starts from the premise that the viewer is a layman. @@daszveroboy
Having studied the Yamato , her design and much more I really appreciate how detailed and in depth of a documentary you have managed to produce whilst being unbiased in anyway or form.
Most youtubers when talking about the Yamato love to compare her to other ships of the time and call her out for just being a cheapscape waste of resource but I’m glad this was not true for yours
The Yamato is a very beautiful ship, and perhaps its reason for sinking so quickly or being flooded had to do with a fault line in her torpedo bulge the engineers found to have during one of her times in harbour. Japanese were unable to fix such a fault leading to such catastrophic flooding. Another interesting thing to note was Yamato Straddled light escort carriers at the battle off Samar, with her shell design damaging USS White plains at 17 miles via an underwater explosion. Whilst she may not use radar as part of her fire control, it must be noted radars were good at finding range quickly, however lacked the ability to give reliable headings to the target. So Radars were good, but not too good in WWII as if a cheat code to win any engagement.
Odd then that Mike does not mention the fault line and attempts at rectification.
Dident know that. Tirpitz was bombed and shelled for years 😆 and it dident go down before 1944.
@@fredenord2411 she was in a port, a place very protected by German AA and what not. She never really ever got hit that much before being eventually sunk
Legitimately one of the most beautiful battleships built.
I would argue that the Italian Littorio class battleships were quite good looking.
@@steven4315i would like to disagree and bring up the Scharnhorsts and Dunkerques
@@arnoldcobarrubias6593 Took another look at both classes respectfully disagree though the French ship is better looking than the German ship
@@steven4315 If you love Italian ships they also got the Conte di Cavour-class and Andrea Doria-class
@@arnoldcobarrubias6593 Don't really love Italian ships, the subject was looks. If I had to pick one battleship that I like as a warship, I think I would go with the USS Washington.
As has been said, Yamato was like forging the most perfect sword in the age of rifles.
Another way of saying it:
The Japanese were taking a most beautiful gun to a gun-fight, but the other side had a hundred guns -- and most of them were flying guns.
@@mitchellhawkes22
I think Occam's razor wins this one, esp given the context.
Naw i think it's more like designing a ship that adheres to your decisive battle doctrine so you design it to take on multiple ships but your opponent not only has those multiple ships but an incredible air arm that obsolete it anyway.
Let's not try to one up the original comment, considering that every iteration after is a lot worse than the original.
@@Rex_Nichts
Yeah, this comment section is like playing telephone with a Family Guy gag about a classic movie scene
I have viewed many videos of Yamato design, construction and sinking but this video is by far the most informative within a reasonable condensed format. Look forward to many more videos.
As a kid, the Yamato I first learned of, was from the TV show Star Blazers. Something about it, hooked me for life. I looked into it often, and loved learning about it.
I actually went to comments to see if anyone mentioned starblazer
And it still has a powerful gun!!
Basic story is written by the same person who wrote Galaxy Express 999.
At one time, the Yamato was a great battleship, it fought nobly, and to the end. While rust and decay have taken away her once sleek beauty, the legend remains bright. A legend of bravery, and sacrifice. Now, just as the ancient ship appears again, the legend will come alive again, a legend, and a ship, that will save Earth.
We lost two coats of paint....
This is the best doc on the Yamato I have seen yet. The production value is top tier.
I would love for the channel to do a video on the NYK Line, which was Japan's ocean liner and mail carrying line through the interwar years. Their ships set records for fastest Pacific crossings between Japan and California. Pretty cool stuff and right up Mr. Brady's alley.
Having served in the US Navy for 21 years and a student of history for over 55 years on one hand it is great to hear a cogent history and explanation on Yamato's construction. But as a sailor I always pray for the souls of her sailor... They served their ship and duty with honor. GOD BLESS their souls.
EBW M.Ed. USN Ret
Mike Brady, my friend, your content just gets better & BETTER!!!
For real! It was great when the channel first came out, now the quality is just insane
Like I say oh it was a really bad to the bone but that didn't stop us we sunk it
It's our friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner Design
You forgot the S
He's the best
Better than Drachenfel who just reminds me of a bloke down the pub droning on 😮
@@basfinnisBecause thats exactly what he is and thats the way I like it.
No. He's MY friend and I will not share
My dad's favorite ship. He passed away back in July, and I inherited his 1/200 scale, Yamato. He would have loved this video.
I recently watched a video by Drachinifiel where he said that by the Second London Naval Treaty, the US absolutely refused to go down in displacement limits in battleships as the British were proposing, because they wanted their battleships to be able to stand up against what they thought Japan was building (≈40-45 thousand ton battleships). They did not, in fact, expect a 70 thousand tons battleship with 46 centimeter cannons.
Edit: spelling mistakes
Well they were indeed correct for doing so, and even if they knew it would exist there was no reason to change the core bulk of your battleships for a chance engagement. It's only one ship (well 2 along it's sister Musashi) and was more a liability to the Japanese than anything, and only finally got used out of desperation. Tho the plan was quality over quantity, the class was more a sense of national pride in just keeping them in existence than any real strategic game changer in the long run. Tho a lot of that is in hindsight
@@muddyhotdog4103
A lot of myths there:
- the Yamatos were NOT symbols of national pride due to all the secrecy surrounding them, and propaganda had absolutely nothing to do with their construction. That’s a postwar fabrication.
- The idea Japan should have built more smaller battleships ignores that a) building ANY battleship was a bad idea at that point, and b) Japan didn’t have enough slipways to build that many battleships (or carriers) in the first place. The Yamatos were the RESULT, not the cause, of Japan being limited in how many capital ships they could build; they were effectively forced to go for quality because the infrastructure for quantity simply didn’t exist.
- ALL battleships that were built around that time were strategic liabilities for their navies, because the issue was that aircraft carriers extended battle ranges to the point battleships were left unable to even fire a shot at the enemy, leaving them to serve as pointlessly gigantic destroyers (and thus a waste of resources). Other contemporary battleships from other nations (including the Allies) also failed to have much of an impact, if at all. The problem is that the Yamatos tend to get singled out for existing by various narratives that either pretend nobody else wasted money on battleships (when everyone did) or that other nations actually managed to use their new battleships effectively (which they couldn’t, and no, simply having a battleship burning fuel sailing around doesn’t count as effective usage when it’s not doing anything other ships can’t do better).
@@bkjeong4302 British battleships had a huge impact on the war, being a crucial part of destroying the German and Italian fleets, convoy escort, and other roles like shore bombardment. The resources could probably have seen better use on a force centered around carriers from the start, but naval aircraft were nowhere near as capable as they would be by the end of the war.
@@puff7145
First of all a lot of what British battleships ended up doing in WWII was with older vessels that weren’t immediately obsolete upon launch, and as you said the resources used on the KGVs and Vanguard could have been better used on more carriers. As it was, land-based airpower played a much bigger role in suppressing German and Italian heavy units.
Well put sir.@@bkjeong4302
I'd love to see a video about stowaway passengers on oceanliners. Might make for an interesting video.
I would absolutely love to see that!
When I first clicked on an OLD video, I wasn't sure how much content a channel could get out of this premise. A year later, I'll watch anything he puts out. Absolutely would love a stowaway video.
Especially on the Titanic!😢😢
@@rumblepuss8848and there's still topics you wouldn't even think you'd want to hear about in great detail.
Oh I'm pumped for a video like that. Surely there are hundreds of stowaways on every oceanliners in history.
Hi my friend Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs,
That was a really great episode, thanks for posting it.
Hey Mike, I’m Kiel from the Philippines. I am a big fan of your videos. Your videos have been a constant source of enjoyment, particularly during my late-night meals. They have become an essential part of my evening routine before I fall asleep.
Thanks for watching and hi from Australia :)
Hey, I'm from the Philippines too!
Hi from Germany. Fitting to the theme of the channel your name means "keel" in german and is also the name of a big city here in Germany, which is famous for their maritime history and its port.
"essential part of my evening routine before I fall asleep." Hmm, could have worded that a bit better Lol.
do you keep your pants on?
“Searching for a distant star
Heading off to Iscandar
Leaving all we love behind
Who knows what dangers we’ll find….” Oh wait that’s for part 2 Yamato’s space modifications ;)
This was a very interesting video. This ship was a beast
@@cbspock1701 I loved that show.
I used to watch Star Blazers everyday after school. almost felt bad for deslock of gammalon when they got there
The remake series is also incredible. Especially it's soundtrack. I forget how many times I've listened to Gamilas' national anthem alone. x_x
I wish Tom does a video of this soon lmao
I wouldnt mind episode about, THE Space Battleship Y a m a to
The Battleship Yamato was one of the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed, representing the pinnacle of battleship engineering during World War II. Built by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato embodied the strategic thinking of its time-dominating naval power with sheer size, armor, and firepower. This ship, along with its sister ship Musashi, was a symbol of Japanese naval strength, yet its ultimate fate reflected the changing nature of naval warfare as aircraft carriers became more dominant.
Thanks for doing this, the production value is amazing and worthy of what Discovery Channel used to be before becoming reality-TV.
Incidentally the fact Yamato was hit only on one side was an intentional tactic to make her capsize.
Yes they figured that out after the sinking of the Musashi.
After dropping bombs the aircraft straffed the AA guns which took out many gun crews.
Yeah. Its much harder for damage crontrol to counter flood if only one side have been damaged.
Commander Joseph F. Enright used the same tactic when USS Archerfish sank IJN Shinano the previous November.
@@FerroEquus-262
Not really? It's a submarine, you only get one chance to torpedo, so they usually hit the same side.
I have watched and read far more than two dozen accounts af the _Yamato's_ construction and demise. Yours, Mr. Brady, is top tier!
Truly one of the ocean liners of all time.
One of the hotels of all time
Two*
Hotel Yamato and Hotel Musashi
@@champagnegascogne9755pretty sure just yamato because musachi took part in mutiple operations
@@GuentherVanRaven
One of the coral reefs of all time
There was a hotel here in Surabaya that was originally Hotel Oranje, then Hotel Yamato, when the Dutch and Japs colonialized us. But now it’s Hotel Majapahit, which was the name of what’s once the greatest kingdom in Indonesian history
As soon as I saw this one I had to see it. It’s one of my favorite ships of all time.
Mike, this was an exceptional video. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into the research, finding the archival photos and the commentary.
My friends late father who was in the Royal Navy, wrote a letter to the designer of Yamato, he actually got a reply. My friend still has the latter. I believe his father was a Naval designer of some sorts, not sure exactly.
Super cool. Curious what the letters said.
What does it say I’m so curious?
@@theshapeexists not sure,friend never told me.
Fun fact ,Yamatos triple 6” secondary armament located either side of the superstructure were removed and fitted from the Mogami class cruisers ,only to be replaced with multiple AA mountings by 1942.
1944*
I have been WAITING for a video about the Yamato thank you
The Yamato is my most favorite battleship, and this has to be not one of but the best videos I’ve ever seen that covers her history and design. Great job!
Yamato is not only a great Battleship, but also the best Space Battleship
@@Peter22055 she is my favorite scifi spaceship as well
Amazing video! The explanation of Yamato's engineering is detailed and captivating. You really brought the design and history of this legendary battleship to life. Great work!
This was a fantastic presentation, as good as anything you might see on the History Channel. Well done, Sir.
Mike, this is excellent work. The depth of detail you present is fascinating, and is greatly appreciated.
The production quality's been getting better every video! The editing, animation, music and sound design is really incredible🤩🤩🤩
That intro was the best you've ever done on this channel. Actual chills.
I just wanna say, I've been with your channel since the early days, for years I enjoyed every video you dropped, but always craved one thing in the back of my mind... "I wish my friend Mike Brady would cover the IJN Yamato". I can't believe it, but the day has arrived, and I'm THRILLED!
Made this one just for you :)
Woooww... Built with the best technology and resources of its time, this ship had incredible firepower. Her main gun, 460 mm caliber, was the largest ever installed on a warship, capable of destroying enemy ships from great distances. Apart from that, the Yamato also has a thick layer of armor, making it almost impenetrable to conventional attacks. From this perspective, Yamato reflects Japan's desire to maintain maritime supremacy in the Pacific region 🥇🇮🇩❤😘🥰
...it almost impenetrable to conventional attacks. Not really. She was sunk by the very aircraft she was prepared for with her 150 extra AA guns. And she was shooting back, this was no turkey shoot. Maybe it was like a old cowboys on TV gunfight. She started shooting, and what she did was commit suicide.
Fantastic video! Excellent description of her unique engineering and the music choices were spot on. Well done!
Oh, as japanese this is the most exciting video from Oceanliner Design!🔥 Thank you so much!
8:16 You even drew in a Mitori Zu（見取り図）format, with your Katakana channel name! That is just so cool!!
The national anthem at the and was fitting and sad.
Would be keen to hear you talk about the Iowa class next potentially. for my opinion some of the most beautiful looking battleships of all time.
And then 250 years later, it got a second lease on life, IN SPACE,
uchuu senkan YAMATO😊
LoL, Im 50 and I just got a buddy to watch Starblazers for the first time.
Betcherass
And in another AU, life as a shipgirl that dislikes being called a hotel. 😆
@@mikebrase5161 Which one, the on from 1979 or the newer anime version call Starblazers 2199?
@@mikethompson2650 the old school one. He is into Anime and I'm not. I told him the only one I liked was from when I was a kid. Turns out all 70 something episodes are on RUclips.
Its in fact quite an irony that meanwhile Japanese hugely invested in building the biggest battleships in the world. It was also Japanese who (just a few months after puting Yamato in service) actually in Pearl Harbor and mainly by sinking of British Force Z (Repulse and PoW) were first to prove battleships vulnerable to air attacks and in fact obsolete.
Actually it was the British fleet attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto in 1940, that proved air power could take out a fleet.
@@davidhugheszerobubblemodel1865 But that was still stationed fleet at anchor in harbor (same as US fleet at PH). But force Z (Repulse and PoW) were destroyed by planes at open sea... which is fairly different situation- giving ships far more chances, but those battleships were still easily massacred with minimal loss of attacking airplanes.
@@kokunoskos6836Those ships had minimal anti aircraft guns and were sitting ducks.
Anti aircraft guns on RN ships were increased dramatically after that incident.
Yeah but tbf, they also built many aircrafts carriers and before the US had the most, largest, most remarkable and most experienced carriers with the most skilled pilot at hand. Not to mention how impressive the shokaku class aircraft carriers were that achieved victory whenever they fought the yorktown class aircraft carriers for example battle of Santa Cruz, and both shokaku and zuikaku while damaged survived both coral Sea and Santa Cruz while sinking one of the enemy carrier in both battles.
@@fryertuck6496 Nope... PoW and Repulse had average anti aircraft armament for 1941 standards and they were not sitting ducks as they were free to maneuver at open sea... and still had no chance against enemy airplanes with no own air cover...
Many years ago I had the great fortune to listen to a lecture by Ted Crosby who flew the aircraft from which all the sinking of the Yamato photographs were taken. Most of the developed negatives were stolen for souvenirs so that is why only a few photos remain. The 25mm antiaircraft guns on the Yamato were based on an earlier French design and they could not be depressed low enough to defend against very low flying aircraft and the rate of fire was slowed down if elevated vertically. Thus attacking torpedo aircraft and low flying fighters strafed these guns and their crew first. The torpedo attacks concentrated on just one side of the Yamato to induce a list rather than have her settle evenly. He said to me that he knew we were certain to win the war when they got the updated Hellcat fighters. He was also royally pissed off that he got assigned to take pictures rather than attack the Yamato. She was a beautifully designed ship for a bygone era that was never used to her full potential... fortunately for us. Excellent video which concentrates on the nuances of naval architecture rather than just history.
Thank you for being respectful to the ship and her crew ❤
And for playing Kimigayo. Those 3000 were mostly kids doing the bidding of their government.
My goodness, oceanlinerdesigns, what a satisfying and respectful story.
I remember Jeremy Clarkson describing this vessel as "hyperbolic". At nearly 73,000 tons displacement full load, that was a strikingly apposite choice of adjective.
It's also notable (and *many* thanks to Mike Brady for providing the details) that the Japanese designers were meticulous and thorough when designing this colossus. Unfortunately, technology - particularly aircraft carrier and strike aircraft technology - overtook the Yamato. A supreme irony, given that the first attempt by the IJN at a "decisive strike" was a carrier assault itself.
A Japanese film about the Yamato's last hours exists, and it's compelling, if at times gut wrenching, to watch. Those sailors may have been enemy combatants 80 years ago, but they were still human beings, and watching them die in that manner takes a strong stomach. The film also gives a good indication of how much bombing and torpedo strikes it took to sink her.
otokotachi no yamato is a brilliant movie even though its centered around the crew
the final battle scene is worth an entire military movies worth of engagement
Frankly Yamato gets singled out for being obsolete on launch when that’s a problem that applies to EVERY battleship built at that time, including a number of highly praised Allied designs like the Iowas (which ended up as gigantic, needlessly expensive destroyers without the depth charges in practice).
The IJN was stupid for building Yamato, but everyone else was being equally stupid in that respect and building their own wasteful and pointless new battleships.
@@bkjeong4302 Yes, most of them were not worth the money, and the only ones that got their money's worth were the ones in the 1910's and 1920's, although if the US were to fight mainly in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, it would have been a whole different story, because carriers were unusable in the Atlantic if you did not have Swordfish.
@bkjeong4302 it's also crazy the us kept the Iowas in service for half a decade. Curious as to the total amount spent to run them that long was as it has to be truly astronomical.
@@oxolotleman7226
To be fair, the Iowas spent the majority of that time in mothballs due to lack of actual value, but that in itself should tell you something (and even the smaller amount of time they were active for was arguably much too long, given that the Iowas were intended to chase down and intercept enemy capital ships, a role that became nonviable before they even hit water).
Mike, my grandfather, G/M 2nd Class Will Colbert was serving aboard the U.S.S. ESSEX (CV-9) when her planes attacked the I.J.N. YAMATO.
What an outstanding presentation Mike. This was a real treat, I always knew about it, but now I can appreciate it.
May its like never be needed again
🇺🇲 🤝🇯🇵
OMG, Mike dropping a video on the Yamato was a big surprise, ngl. Well done, Mr. Brady!
Yamamoto was a crazy feat of a ship the fact that those guns were still firing while tipping over is a testament to that build quality as well as the crew even tho they were enemies,you gotta respect that
She isn't just my favorite battleship, she's my favorite ship period
Its also my favorite submarine.
Coral reef*
Then in 2199, she was brought back into service to save Earth
What is this a reference to?
@@shakybill3Space battleship Yamato.
A very revered Anime; comes up immediately when trying to google it.
@@shakybill3 宇宙戦艦ヤマト(uchuu senkan yamato or Space Battleship Yamato), a popular 70s anime where they turn the raised battleship into a spaceship and fight aliens.
I actually clicked on the video expecting an anime nerd telling me about how Battleship Yamato was designed to autistic levels of detail
@@shakybill3 Starblazers, animated show from the 80's.
This is the most well done expose on the Yamato I’ve seen.
The visuals and comparisons are very helpful on understanding the engineering marvel
Happy to watch this video: I always thought that the Yamato was sort of a stupid idea, and now I know they made it as good as possible with the tech at the time, actually quite amazed about how advances it was!
Well done Mike, well done.
Ah yes, our friend Mike Brady from Battleship Designs.
Thank you for the beautiful video. Excellent, well presented information.
May the souls of the men who died aboard the Yamato find their path to the Yasukuni shrine, and their sacrifice not be forgotten.
Yamato was a beautiful-looking ship.
I am not a big fan of her overall look. However there is photo taken from the bow look back along the main deck, and the graceful curve that deck has rates as one of the most beautiful images I have seen on any ship ever.
@@glenchapman3899I wouldnt describe it así beautiful, but as menacing AND totally badass. If Darth Vader had to choose a terrestrial ship to direct operations from, it would be Yamato.
Even prettier after her magazine detonation.
@@Nyx_2142just like uss arizona 😂
@@themoonhurtsdaddy at least Arizona got a museum built to honour her in the end though, to allow future generations to admire her prettiness and act as a symbol of prestige after the us were done thoroughly spanking the japs for sinking her
Amazing story brilliantly narrated
Your unbroken record of excellence continues unabated! This focus on design and engineering, as opposed to operational record, is a good one. Somewhat unique I think. Go for it! When the video discussed upgraded systems as the war progressed, I remember seeing a stunning overhead view of the Yamato's anti-aircraft protection over the years, with a series of diagrams showing the increased numbers of 25mm AA guns added as the war progressed. The increases in that weapon was stunning. With elevated superstructure space filled up, the IJN was forced to locate the 25mm AA guns fore and aft on the main deck where ever space could be found. (The irony, of course, was that by 1944, the range of the 25mm AA gun was totally inadequate since US aircraft would have already released their bomb and torpedo ordnance before the aircraft was within effective range of the 25mm AA systems.)
The USN was having some of the same problem with their 20 mm Oerlikons. One of the ironies is that Yamato may have done as much damage to her own AA gun crews with the blasts of her 18 in guns firing AA shells. The blast waves killed and knocked out the light and medium AA guns and gun crews with out actually doing anything to the incoming aircraft.
@@PeteOttonBismarck and Yamato
Emagine if one of those beasts survived and became a museum ship. What a sightseeing it would have been.
I would argue that IJN Yamato wasn't obsolete the moment she hit the water. Until the advent of aircraft mounted radar to help with attacking at night. The aircraft carrier couldn't really handle a nighttime operation. Whereas a battleship with night optics, good training, and, for bonus points, radar assisted gun fire control. A battleship can and will destroy targets. Admiral Lee in Guadalcanal and Admiral Cunningham off Cape Matapan both demonstrate this.
I don’t think that Yamato was good but by no means obsolete the ijn just didn’t have good tactics
Lee was an Olympic class marksman despite terrible vision. When he aimed a gun of any size, he didn’t miss. Fitting that the penultimate battleship vs battleship fight in history was his to win.
So HMS Illustrious night attack on the Italian fleet a Taranto does not count.
@paulpotter1041 The Battle of Taranto is a vast difference to encountering a fleet underway in the dead of night. The harbor had been a target of interest since the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. Years of planning plus the fact harbors and ships at anchor don't move the best. Contrast this with the Battle of Cape Matapan, which did have HMS Formidable. Once the sun went down, no more aircraft were used in attacking the Italians. There are even reports that HMS Formidable cleared her deck guns for use in the battle line with the battleships when a radar contact was spotted.
Agreed but sort of on technicality. While Japan was pursuing two doctrines; conventional warships, and advancing carrier warfare, aircraft weren't seen as the fundamental future of naval combat even when Yamato was undergoing sea trials.
The battle of Taranto proved that a carrier was an invaluable asset to a surface fleet, and that torpedo bombers could cripple battleships that were in port.
The sinking of Bismarck once again proved that a carrier was an invaluable asset to a surface fleet, but all the aircraft managed to do was disable the rudder.
Pearl Harbour was the very first time that a predominantly carrier based fleet engaged in a major battle, and while it was wildly successful, most of its targets were in port. However, this becomes the turning point of where the US starts to focus more on carriers.
*IJN Yamato would be commissioned only 9 days later*
-worth nothing that the Val dive bombers and A6M Zero that made Pearl Harbour and IJN naval aviation so successful were only entering service right as the Yamato began its sea trials. So the moment Yamato hit the water, carrier superiority was still a very uncertain ideology.
Pearl harbour wasn't the global turning point of battleships being obsolete. Iowa classes were still being laid down, the Montana class wasn't cancelled until 1943, HMS Vanguard was 2 months into construction and was completed in 1946, the Lion class of the late 1930's was delayed but still underwent redesign in 1942 and 1944.
While the Japanese would scrap the A-150 battleship project in favour of more carriers and cruisers in 1941, signalling that they understood that carriers were the way to go, Shinano didn't start conversion to an aircraft carrier until after the disastrous battle of Midway in 1942.
I would argue that the moment Yamato was *commissioned* (moments after Pearl Harbour) the IJN at least understood that naval aviation was the future of naval warfare, but they weren't ready to give up battleships just yet.
But from the western perspective, they were still building battleships to sail alongside fleet carriers. Because aircraft can sink ships in port just fine, but what happens when a battleship is at sea with an escort? You're gonna need a battleship to sink a battleship at sea.
It wasn't until late 1944 and mid 1945 that the superiority of aircraft was REALLY cemented after Musashi and Yamato were sunk exclusively by aircraft. Late war advances in engines, aerodynamics, and torpedoes only made this even more obvious as the path forward.
I never knew that Yamato's funnel was armoured. That is new information for me
The Battleship New Jersey RUclips channel has a great video about the armored funnels of the Iowa class battleships, the video is actually shot inside of one.
our friend Mike Brady from Ocealiner Designs keeps making fantastic videos
Mike will never run out of awesome ship content, love this channel
I cant believe this is free to watch
Absolutely crazy. Well done 👍👍
One other thing I find amazing is that they actually built TWO of these amazing monster ships, the other one being Musashi, which was also lost during an earlier stage of the war.
Technical 3 if u count shinano although she wasn't finished as a battleship
There was a 4th that did not get past early construction, some of its armor was used on the light carrier Shinyo.......... not to be confused with the 3rd hull finished as the super-carrier Shinano.
Another outstanding video Mike!👍
The Yamato has to be the most beautiful warship I have ever seen. Many thanks Mike for uploading this. Much respect from Western Australia
Yeah it's a very beautiful submarine
Deadly and beautiful in equal measure.
That's the way I would describe the Yamato.
It was a finely crafted sword brought into battle where everyone has guns
She was out of date before she first left port. A waste of resources. An utter failure
@@jeffslote9671 this is spoken with severe hindsight and hubris from a modern perspective
yamato by launch, and by 1945, was the most advanced and well designed battleship afloat
there was only a handful of issues in regards to her rivetted armor design since her armor was THAT thick it couldnt be welded with technology at the time, people who claim yamato was old technology are mostly apathetic US navy fanboys who keep flaunting the mk 38 fire control was a magic aimbot which could simply annihilate yamato at long range
in any surface fleet engagement, yamato wouldve utterly annhilated an opponent ship so long as she wasnt severely outnumbered, but as japan gives up on kantai kessen by 1942-1943, there wasnt much operations that would justify the investment of fuel and resources in moving the ship
seriously, the amount of people talking with hindsight on "OH THEY SHOULDVE BUILT MORE SHOKAKU CLASS CARRIERS!!!!!!!!!!!" or "OH YAMATO WAS BIG AND OLD TECH!!!!!!!!!!!!" is astounding considering yamato had one of the best gunnery records in her brief engagement with surface ships off samar using the type 98 shagekiban fire control computer, which was a manual process involving 7 people. the guns had significantly lower dispersion than an iowa class as well which is the main point of reference that people use as a counter example to yamato
www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/gvt_reports/USNAVY/USNTMJ%20Reports/USNTMJ-200F-0023-0085%20Report%20O-31.pdf
the issues with yamato didnt lay with design, it was something out of the control of the imperial japanese navy general staff, how is anyone supposed to predict and justify that aircraft technology wouldve advanced at a pace unrivalled in the history of the second world war, the few glimpses we had were radical flyboys in the US during the interwar period demonstrating the effectiveness of carrier combat, but that was against a slow / stationary ship with no anti aircraft return fire and no supporting fleet to aid in its defense
yamato is just used as a pedestal to represent the obsolecence of battleships from people with huge hubris and hindsight, which is unfair for such an engineering marvel
No, not really.
Slow to maneuver, expensive, a money pit, relatively underpowered guns for their size, only comparable to, if not weaker than the U.S 16-50, a much slower muzzle velocity.
Nearly a generation behind technologically despite being relatively new, and used antiquated Optical Aiming, as Japan had no access to Radar at the time, making the ship relatively inaccurate, and nearly impossible to accurately use at night.
All Yamato was ever good at was harassing smaller ships, that had no chance of killing it, if it had ever come face to face with a proper American Battleship, she would have been killed a lot sooner, and far more violently.
@@kulot-ki1tu THANK YOU! The number of times I get IOWA fans spouting out arrogant statements about US navel superiority based only on "we still have battleships what happened to yours?" argument. The Iowa's simply can't compare to the Yamato in any meaningful measure. Faster yes but what's the point of sacrificing armour over the ability to run towards your death faster. Iowa's had a similar armour scheme and layout to that of the KGV class who were treaty battleships and therefore built with cheap in mind.
Yamato is just on a whole new level of warship. AND just so GORGEOUS. I mean the Japanese can make good warships but at the same time they look like a piece of art.
This gorgeous warship is no exception. Compare it to the Iowa and it wins hands down just by appearance alone. Yamato has curved shapes, angles and odd shapes all over the place and non standard features most other battleships don't have. Compared to the flat, square and regular shape of the Iowa that looks like it was designed by a 4 year old with no creative style whatsoever.
Iowas are only around because they were introduced too late in the war to do anything meaningful and with the USA having profited from the war unlike most of Europe they had the funds to keep their warships around after the war where as everyone else was flat broke and had to scrap their warships even those with exceptional records that no Iowa could achieve. SEE HMS WARSPITE FOR DETAILS. Iowa's are only mistakenly seen as the best battleships because there is nothing to compare them against.
Trivia: Before directing _Godzilla Minus One_ Takashi Yamazaki made two films featuring the Yamato. The first being the live action adaptation of _Space Battleship Yamato._ The second film is a fictionalized account of the construction of the Yamato - _The Great War of Archimedes._
HOLY SHIT hol up now that you said it im starting to see similarities between live action space yamato and minus one namely the love drama of the main protagonist.
The director really did well on the vfx on the two movies before Minus One.
Ive just had a stroke and watching your well researched videos kerps me sane, something worth watching. Thank you
hope you're doing alright, homie
0:49 Don’t listen to anyone saying you’re pronouncing the name wrong. In English it becomes Yama-to but in Japanese it’s pronounced Ya-ma-to. So you said it correctly.
@@Ivellios23 Are you mentally ill?
@@Ivellios23 Are you okay? Read what I wrote again. Also fyi I grew up in Japan and my name was Ta-ra-toh kun.
@@Ivellios23 Dude 🤦🏽♀️ Read my original comment again, slowly this time. You’re literally agreeing with me.
You hurt your toe?
Genius, he calls it *Yeah-ma-to* for the first 10min. Factually incorrect pronunciation
More battleships please 😊😊
This is a top tier documentary. Wonderful content!
One of the most beautiful things to ever set to sea. Nothing compares to good old big gun battleships.
Yes, but the sad reality is, warfare evolves too fast for battleships to make sense
@@mariebcfhs9491
The ultimate sword, forged in an age of machine guns
Good battleship built at the wrong time.
Well now Mike, here is a video worth watching.
Fantastic overview; well done.
Bout time you talk about the Yamato class🔥
she is a beast
@@Tal-q3r
lol, you keep thinking that, I’ve already roasted enough people in these comments today.
@@yeeters2347 yah . its almost too easy 🤣
@@yeeters2347wow, you’re so cool. Roasting people in RUclips comments. Peak life goals for you reached 😂
@@yeeters2347 womp womp, cry about it. People like and always have liked her. Mald more.
Well look at that, it’s my good friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner designs with another I’m sure to he fantastic video
Easily the best Yamato video yet. Mike, you've outdone yourself. That said, it's sobering to think what would have happened had the Japanese taken the resources that went into building Yamato and Musashi and built 3 or 4 Shokaku class carriers instead. They probably would have won Coral Sea and taken Midway. They then could have based subs at Midway and harassed shipping between the US west coast and Hawaii. They could have taken the Solomons without interference and isolated Australia. The allies would have been on the defensive for a long time.
Glad that didn't happen.
They would have had to relax their standards for pilot training (brutal is an understatement.) At most it would have delayed the end of the war another year, two tops. The US had the Essex and Independence swarm coming in mid to late 43, along with pilots to crew the planes needed to fill their hangers. And the Fletcher and Cruiser swarms, along with fleet submarines and working torpedoes, and CVE's to help with shore bombardment with the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers and to hunt any subs lurking near beach heads. Taking the Solomons would have added 2-4 weeks transit time to Australia.
@@PeteOtton Point taken. Still, it can't be denied that the Pacific war would've been a lot longer and bloodier had the Japanese built carriers instead of the Yamatos. So you could plausibly argue that the Japanese actually helped the allied cause by building them, as they contributed very little to the Japanese war effort.
I was stationed aboard a Destroyer in the mid-late 80’s out of Mayport. During Ocean Safari 85, the waves were so intense that the carriers had water flying up and over their decks and my ship was likened to a submarine. Ripped off everything that was topside/attached to the skin of the ship. Was awesome fun for a 22 year old kid from Idaho.
USMC on LPH-7 in the Med that year
A consistent quality that is nearly unparalleled. Fantastic as always
Ironically Yamato met the same end as Repulse and Prince of Wales.
At least PoW got to fight another battleship in her short career, heck PoW is the reason Bismarck was running to France instead of hunting convoys, by opening up the fuel system, among other damage
And for that matter, Bismarck. It may have been KGV that actually sunk her, but it was Ark Royal's Swordfishes that delivered the crippling blow that sealed her fate. There's a reason why everybody suddenly stopped making battleships at about this time.
I don’t see any irony, defined as a mode of expression that conveys the opposite or contrasting meaning of what is said or written.
Ya guys need to chill out.
Both tragedy, SOLIDIFIED the rise of AirPower!!.
PoW/Repulse wears the distinction of the FIRST MILITARY SHIPs in OPERATION sunk purely with Air Power.
Yamato, well we can put is as the LAST of these Great Military Ships.. sunk purely by Air Power, and the end these huge behemoth era.
It's also always struck me as ironic that the Japanese at least temporarily leveled the battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet using air power alone, but that's also hindsight. It was the only way they could manage it since they couldn't sail a fleet into the harbor. I think Midway proved that air power trumped gunpower, and Repulse and Prince of Wales proved that ships without air cover were doomed if airplanes appeared.
The Musashi gets overlooked.
That's because the Musashi did even less during the war than the Yamato, they were absolute wastes of both technology and resources. Really cool and amazing ships, but in the end absolutely pointless outside of being both morale boosts and massive morale killers with their destruction, to the Japanese themselves
Shinano wasn't even mentioned.
Though Shinano did even worse compared to the other two.
This is one of the best videos about the Yamato I have ever seen. Great job! Even the pronunciation of the name "Yamato" is done right!
Thankfully, the ship was able to redeem herself when she and her crew saved the Earth and the whole human race from the invading Gamilons.
Funny little show. The Yamato flying in space!!! What a novel idea. My son loved the show.😊
So true. Thank the heavens for those brave kids with the puffy haircuts.
I was never really a fan of Yamato until after the refit in 2199.
What an amazing and respectful video. I could write a whole paragraph but can see that others have done so already. The final thoughts at the end of the video were almost poetic.
Its ironic in a way that the Yamato Musashi, and Shinano helped the U.S. during WW2 by ultimately being a complete waste of if resources. Over 200000 total tons that couldve gone to so many other smaller ships or various types of supplies during the war. As i recall the only ship the Yamato ever sunk was the Escort Carrier Gambier Bay. Aside from that these 3 ships never achieved what they were supposed to do.
Thank you Mike Brady for show casing the engineering behind these ships. Sure one can read about it but its much more fun hearing about it and visually being shown it. Top notch as always.
いやあ、あなたは知的ですね。素晴らしい。まるでセサミストリートだ。
@@じゃがいも-n8j you sound like a sore loser
Afaik battleships were always used as HQs rather than fighter ships like destroyers
@@aliashfaque1746 And Carriers took over that role...
This is actually a common myth. While the famous German battleships were indeed a waste of resources, the Yamato-class battleships were extremely dangerous. The Imperial Japanese Navy was weirdly conservative with their battleships while being very aggressive with their carriers. In 1942 and much of 1943, the overstretched Allied navies had no answer for Japanese battleships. US torpedo bombers (the only practical way to sink a battleship) were somewhat ineffective in 1942, as were US submarines. Allied fast battleships also had problems, neither being fast enough to catch the Kongo's nor powerful enough to take on Yamato.
By the time Yamato and Musashi were finally committed to battle, it was two years too late. While they could've dominated the Pacific in 1942, they were impossibly outnumbered and outmatched in 1944.
What a stunning program. You translated Yamato's concept and design, brilliant as it was, into a description of it's weaknesses and how it as the ultimate battleship exemplified the failure of the battleship class.
The bigger (or better) they are, the harder they fall
This is some of the best work you’ve ever produced 🙌would love to see more of this format
Imagine shooting Honda Civics at an enemy battleship. That's the Yamato, baby.
Honda Civics are not generally filled with high explosives...
@@RossoVerdeNero People must treat their Civics differently where you live. Most people I know keep their Civic as full as explosive as possible, just in case they are needed.
@@namewithheld8115do they hold more explosives than Corollas though?
Would be curious to make a modern version with nuclear power, cruise missiles, railgun turrets, CWIS, jamming, & drone launchers. Call it Super Yamato.
MW player detected
Railguns are actually pretty ineffective as the sheer power of them destroys the barrels after just a few shots so putting them on the 'super yamato' would not be cost efficient
just make 3 destroyers and save yourself the money and trouble of maintenance LOL
@@PancakeBoi oh 100% Not saying it would be a GOOD idea. But it would be awesome
There actually was a plan for a ship that was dubbed the "Super Yamato", design A-150. This ships would have been largely the same as Yamato, except with the latest equipment available. Most importantly though, instead of Yamato's 9 460mm guns in 3 triple-turrets, she would have carried 6 510mm guns in 3 dubble-turrets.
Mike Brady, you mos def knocked it out of the park on this one!!!
A+ !!!